Introduction to the Psychology of Music

by Révész, Geza

• ISBN13: 9780486416786
• ISBN10: 048641678X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-04-05
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

Comprehensive introduction looks at physical and physiological bases of sound, hearing, and tone; elements of musical tone; theory of intervals; consonance and dissonance; the sense of pitch; musical talent; development and inheritance of musical ability; musical accomplishments of the deaf; the origins of music; the relationship between aesthetics and the psychology of music; more.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Preface to the Translation	p. ix
Hearing, Sound, and Musical Tone
Dependence of Sound Perception on Physical Stimulus	p. 3
Sound Vibrations	p. 3
Amplitude of the Vibrations	p. 5
Dependence of Sound Perception on the Amplitude of the Vibration	p. 6
Amplitude and Intensity	p. 6
Auditory Response	p. 6
Vibration Frequency	p. 8
Dependence of Sound Perception on Frequency	p. 9
Frequency and Pitch	p. 9
The Upper and Lower Limits of Audibility (Auditory Sensation Area)	p. 9
Pitch Discrimination	p. 9
Dependence of Sound Perception on the Partials	p. 10
Secondary Sound Phenomena	p. 15
Beats	p. 15
Combination Tones	p. 17
Structure of our Musical System	p. 20
The Musical System in General	p. 20
The Structure of our Musical System Based on Consonant Note Pairs (Just Intonation)	p. 21
The Musical System Based on the Projection of Pure Fifths (Pythagorean Intonation)	p. 24
The Musical System Based on the Pragmatic Principle (Tempered Tuning)	p. 27
Absolute Tuning and Standard Pitch	p. 31
Measuring System in Terms of Cents	p. 32
Physiological Acoustics	p. 34
Function of the Auditory Apparatus	p. 34
Theories of Auditory Perception	p. 36
The Helmholtz Resonance Theory	p. 36
Ewald's Sound Pattern Theory	p. 39
The Human Voice	p. 42
The Function of the Vocal Organ	p. 42
Compass and Registers of the Voice	p. 42
Analysis of Human Speech-sounds	p. 45
Fundamental Problems of the Psychology of Sound
Basic Elements of Musical Tone	p. 55
The Three Fundamental Characteristics	p. 55
Pitch and Tone Quality	p. 56
The Two-component Theory	p. 59
Some Historical Data on the Octave	p. 65
Graphic Representation of the Two-component Theory	p. 67
The Alleged Extensity of Sound Perceptions	p. 68
Theory of Intervals	p. 70
The Consonance Problem	p. 77
Consonance and Dissonance	p. 77
Mathematical Theories of Consonance	p. 78
Physical Theories of Consonance	p. 81
Theory of Fusion	p. 85
Consonance and Concordance	p. 90
Consonance and Atonality	p. 92
More Complex Tone Structures	p. 92
The Musical Ear	p. 95
Sense of Pitch	p. 95
Absolute Pitch	p. 95
Regional Pitch	p. 99
Ear for Standard Pitch	p. 104
Importance of Absolute Pitch	p. 106
Relative Pitch	p. 107
Identification and Analysis of Chords of Two and more Notes	p. 109
Key Characteristics	p. 112
Relation between Tone and Colour Perception	p. 123
Fundamental Problems of the Psychology of Music
Musicality	p. 131
The Concept of Musicality	p. 131
Testing Natural Musical Capacity	p. 134
The Unmusical Person	p. 136
Musicality and Musical Training	p. 139
Musical Talent	p. 141
Aptitude and Talent	p. 141
Variants of Musical Talent	p. 144
Premature Emergence of Musical Talent	p. 145
Reproductive-interpretative Talent	p. 145
Creative Talent	p. 146
The Musical Prodigy	p. 149
Blind Musicians	p. 156
Relationship between Mathematical, Musical, and other Types of Talent	p. 160
Development of Musical Capacity	p. 168
Methods of Research	p. 168
Emergence of Musical Capacity	p. 169
Stages of Developmental Cycle	p. 171
Development of Musical Talent in Maturity and Advanced Age	p. 177
Inheritance of Musical Capacities	p. 186
Native Endowment and Environment	p. 186
Inheritance of Inborn Musical Capacity	p. 189
Frequent Occurrence of Notable Talents in One Family	p. 192
Relationship Between Talented Parents and their Children	p. 195
Creative Work	p. 197
Receptive and Productive Musical Accomplishments of the Deaf	p. 206
Pathology of Musical Perceptivity	p. 213
The Origin of Music	p. 218
Music in the Most Primitive Stage of Development	p. 219
The Genesis of Music	p. 224
AEsthetics and the Psychology of Music	p. 236
Works Cited	p. 247
Tone Tables	p. 253
Index	p. 257
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.